Los Angeles Elections

Emergency ethics rules imposed by the Los Angeles City Council for last month's municipal elections were extended Tuesday to upcoming elections to fill two council vacancies. The rules require political parties, unions and other organizations that spend more than $10,000 to support or oppose city candidates to disclose their actions to the city Ethics Commission at least seven days before the election.

People keep telling me there's no interest in local politics in Southern California, and I have to say that I just don't get it. In Los Angeles alone, a Mexican American is running for mayor as a non-Latino, his white opponent, is running as a black man despite falling asleep at the wheel during the Rampart scandal, a Boy Scout congressman is having a Biblical fall from grace, and half the city wants to secede.

Of all the issues confronting Los Angeles' harbor area, one is paramount: the animosity toward City Hall that has triggered a secession movement in San Pedro and Wilmington that could fracture the 15th Council District in the years ahead. As the April 10 city elections approach, that theme overrides all others.

City Council candidate Tom Hayden has moved from a Westwood guest house into the main house on the same property after questions were raised about his legal residency. Hayden had said he had moved from his Brentwood home into a guest house in the backyard of campaign coordinator Sandy Brown to establish residency in the 5th Los Angeles City Council District so he could compete in the April 10 election. That move drew charges of carpetbagging from other candidates.

Rivals excoriated Los Angeles City Council candidate Ken Gerston on Monday for his link to a firm called Bad Pig Creations, whose Web site contains scantily clad models called "Bad Pig Girls" marketing jewelry made by Gerston. Gerston, who reported to the city Ethics Commission that his firm Ubiquitous Inc. received more than $10,000 from Bad Pig Creations, said he simply makes the jewelry as a vendor for the motorcycle accessory firm and has no creative control over how it is marketed.

Although they are seeking different offices--and in one case competing against one another--the leading women candidates for citywide offices in Los Angeles share a sense that they are battling against traditions and habits formed over decades. "It's still a very, very male-dominated arena," Councilwoman Laura Chick, a candidate for city controller in the April 10 municipal primary, told a women's forum Tuesday night. "It's adversarial and hostile. . . . We need to change that."

Already under fire for moving into the 5th District to run for a Los Angeles City Council seat, former state Sen. Tom Hayden is facing new questions from political opponents about where he lives. Jack Weiss, a former federal prosecutor running against Hayden and nine others in the 5th District, questioned whether Hayden meets legal residency requirements and called Wednesday for the city attorney to investigate.

Already under fire for moving into the 5th District to run for the Los Angeles City Council, former state Sen. Tom Hayden is facing new questions from political opponents about where he lives. Jack Weiss, a former federal prosecutor running against Hayden and nine others in the 5th District, questioned whether Hayden meets legal residency requirements and called Wednesday for the city attorney to investigate.

Energized by the closest presidential race in 40 years and a sense of urgency on issues from public schools to the Supreme Court, voters streamed to polls across Southern California on Tuesday, convinced that their choices might make a difference. From East Los Angeles to Beverly Hills, and Pacoima to Oxnard, voters of varying ages, parties and beliefs said they felt empowered by the tight presidential contest.